The present invention relates to a pest repelling device, and more particularly to a device which may be secured to a building, statue or the like to discourage birds and other pests from resting thereon.
Devices carrying electric charges for discouraging birds and other pests are known and described for example in Burdick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,808, issued Dec. 22, 1998, Morros, Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 2,049,509, filed Aug. 19, 1991, Shaffer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,893, issued Dec. 27, 1966, Plevy et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,802, issued Feb. 20, 1973, Robinson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,854, issued Jan. 30, 1968 and Bayes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,048 issued Nov. 10, 1981. These devices generally provide a pair of spaced wires carrying an electrical charge, so that when the feet of a bird contact them, they short out and provide a shock to the bird. Such prior art devices 15 require one to make a choice between a relatively flexible cable, such as that of Shaffer, Bayes or Robinson, which can be bent in a variety of shapes to follow the contour of a support service, and the relative rigidity of a device such as that of Plevy et al, which must be preformed to the shape of the structure on which it is to sit, providing a better base for support on another surface. As well, with such prior art systems, because the base on which the wires sit will expand and contract at a significantly different rate than the wires, when exposed to the normal outdoor conditions for which such devices are designed, there is a trade off between leaving the wires fully exposed, in which case they may work themselves loose from the base through repetitive heating and cooling cycles, and a fully secured arrangement where the wires are partially embedded in the base which may reduce the exposure of the wires and thereby impede the device's effectiveness.
Sherdan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,941, issued Nov. 17, 1987 and Cleveland, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,163,658, and 5,096,162 issued Nov. 17, 1992 and Mar. 17, 1992, respectively describe and illustrate electric fence constructions and are of general background interest. Link, U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,303, issued Jan. 20, 1953, describes and illustrates a perforated support for electrical conductors to reduce the collection of moisture and the like.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a deterrent strip for mounting on inanimate objects to discourage birds or other pests from resting there, which strip will be more adaptable to a variety of conditions. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a strip which will provide better exposure of the wires while at the same time securely hold those wires in place on the base even during conditions of changing temperature, when the base and wire expansions and contractions occur at different rates.